SwampSwamiSports.com

The myriad of companies which spent billions of dollars to purchase the television rights for NFL football every week are feeling downright giddy about their investment decisions after Week #1.

Thursday night’s opener featured an NFC East match-up between America’s most beloved and hated team (Dallas) at the defending Super Bowl champions in Philadelphia.

The Eagles won the game 24-20 as neither team was able to score any points after more than a one-hour weather delay during the second half.

Many of us watching the game on NBC hoped that the network would finish-up its commercial allotment during the weather delay so that we could watch the final quarter without significant interruption.

Nope!

The scoreless and sluggish fourth quarter still had NBC taking its usual commercial breaks (though some felt a bit shorter).  This game dragged on for well over four hours as Philadelphia’s slim 24-20 lead remained in jeopardy until the end.

You couldn’t have scripted a better ending – for television and in Las Vegas.  Philly won the game, but Dallas covered the 8-point betting line.

An average of more than 28 million people watched the season-opening game on NBC.

The NBC prime time weeknight line-up over this past summer captured just 10% of that number. That’s right!  NBC drew less than three million viewers to its weeknight line-up from mid-June through August.

ABC and CBS had a similar fate.  All three networks drew fewer weeknight viewers than a cable news network (Fox News) this summer.

My, how times have changed!

A mere 50 years ago, the big three networks featured TV programs like Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, MASH, Three’s Company, and All in the Family drawing 20-30 million viewers every week.

ABC’s new Monday Night Football program lagged far behind the top ten rankings every week.  Fall 1975 television ratings showed ABC’s Monday Night Football in 22th place.

The show was able to draw a 21% ratings share of the TV audience, though.  That meant Monday Night Football’s audience in 1975 amounted to about 15 million Americans (21% of the 70 million TV households).

We have observed how fragmented and fractured the television pie has become in the last 50 years. Cable television led in adding new competitors beginning in the 1980’s.  Additional competition from online streaming competitors has grown significantly in the past decade to further fragment the television market.

Even Friday night’s YouTube TV game from Brazil drew 16 million viewers!

I don’t pay to watch online streaming provider YouTube TV.  Most people don’t.

That didn’t stop 16 million people from watching Friday night’s NFL game from Sao Paulo, Brazil between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers on YouTube TV.

Friday nights are generally considered a TV wasteland.  Many weeknight viewers hit the town for dinner, a movie, or some other entertainment options instead of staying home to watch television.

That makes last Friday night’s NFL game ratings for YouTube TV even more impressive.

NBC’s Sunday night football match-up between Baltimore and Buffalo pulled-in 25 million viewers

Two of the NFL’s likely Super Bowl contenders put on a whale of a show on NBC’s Sunday Night Football debut.

The Buffalo Bills rallied from 15 points down in the fourth quarter and won the game 41-40 on the final play on a field goal by 41-year old kicker Matt Prater.

He wasn’t even on the Buffalo roster until Thursday last week after the Bills’ regular kicker (Tyler Bass) severely injured his groin and was unable to play.  Matt Prater had been helping coach his son’s youth league football team on Tuesday and ended the week by booting the winning field goal for the Buffalo Bills just five days later.

It was that kind of a game for football fans to watch in the stadium and at home.  NBC’s television advertising staff must have been jumping for joy.

The NFL had delivered yet another thriller on national television in Week #1.

Football is the only television product with the power to attract so many viewers

The ratings giant called football (primarily NFL and, to a lesser extent, college football) serves as a beacon which pulls millions of Americans back together to watch a game on one primary source/network every week.

The NFL’s Super Bowl game averages well over 100 million viewers while being carried on just one television network each February.

Conversely, last summer’s 2024 Presidential debate between incumbent Joe Biden and Donald Trump drew less than half of that number (51 million).  That debate was carried across a myriad of networks and online platforms for home viewers.

Accordingly, the NFL (by a 2-1 margin) is more popular with Americans than politics.

Perhaps that may be a very good thing!

Why is NFL Football so popular with TV viewers?

In a word, it’s addiction.

Let’s begin with fantasy football.  More than 30 million Americans are playing in a fantasy football league this fall.

Accordingly, that means that 30 million people (like me) are investing some time every week to keep up with the top players and teams.  They must draft players and try to improve their roster in weekly matches against friends, co-workers, or someone else.

Monday night’s Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears game had me checking the television a few times to keep tabs on the outcome.

My top Fantasy Football receiver (Justin Jefferson of the Vikings) needed to score just a few points on Monday night for my team (called SwampGas) to secure a Week #1 victory in a friendly Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football league.

It took until midway in the fourth quarter for the Vikings (and Justin Jefferson) to catch fire.  The former LSU wide receiver scored a touchdown in Minnesota’s 27-24 win over the Bears and to deliver an unexpected victory for my fantasy football team.

Some fantasy football leagues (like mine) are played purely for fun with no money involved on the outcomes.  However, millions of people are playing in cash leagues for (hopefully-for IRS purposes) relatively small amounts.

Having a little money wagered on your fantasy football team definitely creates an addictive property leading more people to watch weekly football games.

Another football-related addiction has been the growth of online sports betting

More and more states are approving online sports wagering as governmental agencies want to tap into every possible source of new revenue.

More than 15% of the wagering on pro football occurs online.  Nearly half of the 50 US states have approved online sports wagering and more are likely to follow.

Those who regularly plunk down their dollars on weekly wagering are more likely to watch the games on television every week to learn either good or bad news.

Finally, the seasonality and weekly nature of football lends itself to regular viewing

September brings somewhat cooler temperatures for much of the country.  The more moderate temperatures tend to bring Americans back outside for a few months before winter settles in.

The weekly cycle of football games brings fans together at high schools, colleges, and professional stadiums to enjoy the improved weather conditions and an exciting game.

Football (unlike baseball and basketball) is only played once per week.  It allows the players a chance to rest from a very physical sport which takes quite a toll.

That same waiting period serves to allow millions of fantasy football players and online betters a chance to regroup for a few days ahead of the next week of games.

From September through January, football serves as a weekly habit as it attracts like-minded people to watch an action-packed sport filled with increasingly familiar names.

The 32 NFL franchise owners are riding this lingering wave of pro football’s popularity.

The owners are smiling all the way to the bank while watching the value of their franchises rise by billions of dollars over the past decade.

The good ship NFL is delivering – for the owners, the fans, and the growing number of people who are earning a living off the league.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earns about $64 million per year.

Admittedly, he seems quite overpaid for what he actually does, but the results of his sports league remain impressive.

Roger Goodell’s 32 billionaire employers have given him positive job reviews for his work over the past decade.

It’s good to be the king!

The post NFL Opening Week made TV Partners VERY Happy appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The second full weekend of college football produced a lot of points.  Many of the visiting teams knew that they were going to be over-matched. 

A $1 million payday was exchanged for keeping the home team’s fans happy with an overwhelming victory.

Legendary radio announcer Casey Kasem would have loved this weekend’s games

Ten major colleges put-up sixty or more points in their game during Week #2.  Let’s replay a few of the top golden oldie hits from coast-to-coast!

77-3 – #14 Florida State scalped E. Texas A&M

73-0 – #18 Alabama trampled the ULM Warhawks

72-17 – #22 Tennessee obliterated E. Tennessee State

70- 0 – #1 Ohio State grounded Grambling State

69-3 – #6 Oregon outflanked Oklahoma State

68-0 – Unranked Nebraska nailed Akron

68-7 – Unranked UCF hung-up on North Carolina A&T

66-0 Unranked Minnesota mauled Northwestern State

63-9 – #25 Utah clobbered Cal Poly

62-14 – #24 Texas Tech throttled Kent State

That’s 688-54 (including four shutouts) for an average victory margin of 69-5.

That’s not all!  Grab your calculator and check out nine more FBS teams which scored 50 or more points this weekend.

59-12 – Georgia Tech wrecked Gardner-Webb

59-20 – USC jousted Georgia Southern

56-3 – East Carolina clamped down on Campbell

56-9 – #23 Indiana over Kennesaw State

56-14 – Arkansas hog-tied Arkansas State

56-14 – Florida Atlantic rattled Florida A&M

55-7 – Temple humbled Howard

54-6 – Old Dominion dominated North Carolina Central

51-14 – Boise State blasted Eastern Washington

What has happened to Oklahoma State?

Stillwater’s legendary eatery Eskimo Joe’s is even hotter than the Big 12’s OSU Cowboys football team.

A 69-3 shellacking at the hands of the reigning NIL champion Oregon Duck$ has Oklahoma State fans plenty upset.

Longtime OSU coach Mike Gundy opened-up a bottle of truth serum last week.  He told the assembled media that the University of Oregon is buying a top-rated college football team with $40 million worth of NIL goodies being handed out to its football players.

The big sugar daddy for the Oregon Duck$ football team is rumored to be Nike’s billionaire founder, Phil Knight.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning took a shot at Mike Gundy (whose team spent a reported $7 million in NIL loot on its football team).

“We spend to win. Some people save (money) to have an excuse for why they don’t, right?” said Lanning last week.

Saturday’s 69-3 embarrassment at Oregon was Oklahoma State’s worst loss since the year 1907.

OSU coach Mike Gundy is now in his 21st year with the Big 12’s Cowboys.  He has posted only two losing seasons in his first 20 years as the team’s head coach.

Unfortunately, last season’s 3-9 record (0-9 in Big 12 Conference play) already had fans on edge heading into the 2025 campaign.  Coach Gundy (who played quarterback at Oklahoma State during the 1980’s) agreed to restructure his contract after last season with his current contract buyout estimated to be $15 million.

Don’t expect Oregon to lend Cowboys’ fans any money to finance that buyout!

Louisiana Tech’s Bulldogs gave #3 LSU a tough game in 23-7 loss to the Tigers

LSU’s impressive season opening 17-10 win at Clemson apparently went to their heads.  The Tigers were vaulted up to #3 in the AP poll this week following their big road win on national television.

LSU played its first home game of the year on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium against intrastate foe Louisiana Tech.

Somebody forgot to tell the 37-point under (bull)dogs about how the script for this game was supposed to go.  LSU fans expected Louisiana Tech to lose by 37 or more points and then happily collect their $1 million paycheck walking out of Tiger Stadium as the bus caravan drove everyone safely home to Ruston.

The Bulldogs barked and Tigers hissed at each other’s offense for much of the night.  

LSU emerged with a hard-fought 23-7 win to move to 2-0 on the season.  Louisiana Tech fell to 1-1 but earned a lot of respect from the 102,000 mostly LSU fans on Saturday night.

LSU’s lack of offensive punch has become a growing concern heading into this Saturday’s home game against the Florida Gators (1-1).

The LSU offensive line was the team’s biggest question mark before the season began.  Unsurprisingly, the Tigers have tallied just 17 and 23 points in the first two games. 

LSU’s much-improved defense cannot be expected to carry this team every week of the season.

Congratulations to Coach Bill Belichick for his first win at North Carolina!

The 73-year old NFL coaching legend took his 0-1 Tar Heels on the road Saturday evening into Charlotte to face the equally 0-1 49ers.

Something had to give.

Charlotte had more first downs (21-15), more time of possession (31 minutes to 29), but also threw two interceptions to the North Carolina defense which effectively torpedoed their chances.

North Carolina’s 20-3 win was the first for their rookie head football coach.  UNC will host the FBS Richmond Spiders next weekend.  The pressure ramps up with a road trip to Orlando to play UCF in two weeks.  The Heels will host defending ACC champion Clemson on October 4.

Clang those cowbells!  Mississippi State upsets #12 Arizona State on last minute TD

Football fans of the Mississippi State Bulldogs haven’t had many chances to break-out their famous cowbells in joyous celebration in recent years.

The Bulldogs completed a 59-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds to play and surprised the former #12-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils 24-20 in Starkville on Saturday.  It was the biggest win for MSU against a top 15 non-SEC opponent since 1991.

Mississippi State is now 2-0 with a good chance to roll a turkey (three in a row) next week at home against the 0-2 Alcorn State Braves.

Keep an eye on these up and comers in 2025!

Illinois – Quarterback Luke Altmyer looks like a Heisman candidate as the Fighting Illini moved to 2-0 with a 45-19 drubbing of Duke in Durham, North Carolina Saturday.  Altmyer passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Oklahoma – Sooner transfer quarterback John Mateer also joined the Heisman chat with a dominant 270-yard passing game and added 74 yards on the ground in OU’s 24-13 win over Michigan.  The 2-0 Sooners need to win these early season games as their final seven match-ups will be incredibly difficult.  Oklahoma will have home games with Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU and then takes to the road to play at South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.  OU (CH)!

South Florida – The 2-0 Bulls entered the AP Top 25 this week at #18 after kicking a game-winning field goal on the final play to upset the former #13 Florida Gators 18-16 in Gainesville.  That makes two straight top 25 wins for South Florida after the Bulls stampeded #25 Boise State 34-7 in Week #1.  They will go for three in a row Saturday as the Bulls charge into Miami to play the #5 Hurricanes.

Expectorate the unexpected from the University of Florida!

The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was thrown out of his team’s season opener last Thursday for spitting on Dallas Cowboy quarterback Dak Prescott.

On Saturday in The Swamp, University of Florida defensive lineman Brendon Bett became the next player to hurt his football team by being flagged for an unsportsmanlike pitooey!

Florida was holding onto a narrow two point lead late in the fourth quarter when Brenden “Hockaloogie” Bett let loose on an unsuspecting South Florida offensive lineman.

The 15-yard penalty moved South Florida closer into field goal range as the upstart Bulls kicked a 3-pointer on the game’s final play in a 17-16 win.

Florida head coach Billy Napier was spitting fire afterwards.

“When a guy does something like that, he’s compromising the team. He’s putting himself before the team,” said Napier.

Florida travels to play SEC rival LSU on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. The LSU public address announcer always pumps up the home crowd before kick-off by saying, “The chance of rain? NEVER!”

This week, he might want to add, “But there might be a chance of personal precipitation coming from some of the Florida players!”

The post CFB Week #2 – Playin’ the hits of the 60’s and 70’s! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Did you watch Monday night’s University of North Carolina football game against TCU?

It was U-G-L-Y with a capital U.

Carolina thrilled the sellout home crowd by scoring the first touchdown of the night in the opening quarter. Unfortunately, it went downhill quickly from there.

North Carolina was soundly thrashed 48-14 by the upstart Texas Christian University Horned Frogs from Fort Worth.

Blue-clad Carolina fans were downright dejected during and after Monday night’s embarrassing defeat on national television.  The 48 points allowed (and it could have been worse) was the largest number of points ever surrendered by a North Carolina football team in a season-opening game.

UNC began playing college football in the year 1888.

More than half of the sellout crowd in Chapel Hill left before the end of the third quarter.  They had seen enough.

ESPN’s broadcast team became so bored during the fourth quarter that analyst Kirk Herbstreit put his TV headset over the ears of his support dog (a golden retriever) during the final minutes of this massive blowout.

The dog didn’t think it was very funny, either!

The Tar Heels were led by their rookie college head coach

Perhaps the new North Carolina head football coach and his 24-year old fiancee have been distracted in recent weeks by planning a future wedding. 

He didn’t look very well on Monday night.

This rookie college football coach stood stoically along the sidelines with his arms folded for much of the game.  His North Carolina football team committed two turnovers which TCU ran into the end zone for touchdowns.  TCU’s offense outgained Carolina 542 yards to just 222 yards.

Ouch!

North Carolina’s rookie college football coach seemed vaguely familiar standing alone on the team’s sideline.  He wore a rather dull looking gray sweatshirt and appeared unamused by his team’s poor play on the football field.

The Tar Heels have an incredible 70 new players on the roster to begin this season.  The majority of them probably wish they had signed to play somewhere else after Monday’s game.

Then again, the Carolina fans might be willing to help many of them pack after Monday night’s implosion.

The new coach then had to meet the assembled press afterwards in his first college football post-game press conference.

He grumbled and mumbled about how he has to coach better and the team has to play better. The rookie coach gave credit to TCU.

“They were clearly the better team tonight,” growled the losing coach.

73-year old Bill Belichick is the oldest coach in college football this season

Long-time New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is, indeed, that rookie college football coach for the University of North Carolina.

He won six Super Bowl titles in 24 years as the head coach for the NFL’s New England Patriots.

Belichick also had a quarterback named Tom Brady leading his offense for most of those years.

Tom Brady left New England after the 2019 NFL season and immediately won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay at the end of his first year in southwest Florida.

Bill Belichick’s Patriots (without Tom Brady) sank to 10-7, 8-9, and 4-13 over the next three seasons.  That’s when the future Hall-of-Fame coach and New England’s owner mutually agreed that it was time for the longtime coach to vamoose.

Belichick interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons open head coaching job but did not get it.  He spent most of last fall’s football season doing TV analyst work as he impressed home viewers with his deep knowledge of the game.

Most football fans were quite surprised when 73-year old Bill Belichick was announced as the new head football coach at the University of North Carolina on December 11, 2024.  His entire coaching career (1975-2023) had been spent in the NFL.

The NCAA’s recent NIL rules have allowed college athletes to be compensated (see also – LSU and the University of Oregon this season).  Bill Belichick seemed like a comfortable fit to coach in today’s college football’s evolving environment featuring highly paid athletes.

The previous head football coach at the University of North Carolina was Mack Brown.

The former Tar Heel’s leader was (surprise!) 73 years of age when he was fired last November in Chapel Hill.

The UNC Athletics Director has egg on his face – again

North Carolina Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham hired then 68-year old Mack Brown to run the football program beginning in 2019. 

Five years later, Cunningham brought in 73-year old Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown.

The Tar Heels AD apparently feels quite comfortable when a very experienced coach is put in charge of his school’s football team.

The next football coach at the University of North Carolina will not be hired by the 63-year old Bubba Cunningham.  He was effectively sent to pasture this summer.

The University of North Carolina will make the current AD train his replacement for the job over this year. Cunningham will transition into an administrative role (i. e. – sidelined from the sports spotlight) next June in 2026.

Former NASCAR auto racing executive Steve Newmark (in his mid-50’s) will take the AD baton next summer at the University of North Carolina.

UNC’s Research Triangle rivals Duke and NC State have outperformed the Tar Heels in football during recent seasons.  The Blue Devils men’s basketball team has also dominated the Tar Heels in the ACC standings lately, too.

That’s unacceptable in the Tar Heel state.

B’bye, Bubba.

How many college and pro football coaches are eligible for Medicare (age 65) this year?

It’s a very short list.

The oldest major college football coaches this season are:

Bill Belichick – North Carolina – Age 73 (first year at UNC)

Kirk Ferentz – Iowa – Age 70 (26th season at Iowa)

K.C. Keeler – Temple – Age 66 (first year at Temple)

Kyle Whittingham – Utah – Age 66 (22nd season at Utah)

Willie Fritz – Houston – Age 65 (2nd season at UH)

There are now 136 FBS (major colleges) in 2025 after Delaware and Missouri State were admitted into Conference USA this fall.  Only 4.4% of the coaches are age 65 and older.

The only two NFL coaches of Medicare age are Pete Carroll of the Las Vegas Raiders (he turns 74 on September 15) and Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs (age 67). 

That makes just two of the 32 NFL coaches (6.25%) over the age of 65.

We remember former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was at the helm for 45 years before being fired in November, 2011 at age 84.

The winningest football coach in major college history (409 wins – all at Penn State) died 74 days after coaching his final football game for the Nittany Lions.

Florida State’s Bobby Bowden made it to age 80 as the head football coach in Tallahassee.

He remains second to JoePa with 377 career college football wins. Coach Bowden had 33 seasons at FSU plus six at West Virginia and four at Howard University.  He passed away in 2021 at age 90.

Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban retired at age 72 after the end of the 2023 college football season.

The man with seven championship rings (six with Alabama and one at LSU) has no desire to return to coaching in today’s wild environment.

However, Nick Saban recently expressed a sincere interest to participate in a commission to rein in recent changes in college athletics and enforce new rules on all participating schools.

Age 73 or not, is Bill Belichick the right man for the job at North Carolina?

We’re going to find out soon enough.

This Saturday evening’s 6PM CDT game on ESPN+ has the University of North Carolina traveling to play a sister school, UNC-Charlotte.  The 49ers have posted just one winning season in 15 years of participating in major college football.

A loss to Charlotte would be absolutely devastating for UNC faithful and, more importantly, to Coach Bill Belichick.

UNC-Charlotte went 5-7 in 2024.  The 49ers were drubbed 33-14 – at home – by Appalachian State in Week #1 last Saturday.

This coming weekend’s football game was expected to be a cake walk for the Tar Heels. 

Las Vegas oddsmakers currently have established UNC a 13.5 point favorite over Charlotte this Saturday.

You know that Charlotte’s players and much of the city will be fired-up to play a wounded Tar Heels football team this week.

A loss to Charlotte on Saturday night might signal a very quick end to the college coaching career of Bill Belichick – just two games into his first season at UNC.

Belichick signed a five year contract worth $10 million per season with the first three years ($30 million) fully guaranteed.

Interestingly, Coach Bill Belichick also has the right to pay a $1 million exit fee to UNC in order to get out of his contract, too.  That would seem to be the most gracious way to step down.

Belichick would be able to save face with North Carolina football fans by leaving the program quickly and giving the Tar Heels a chance to identify a more dynamic (yes, younger) leader to rebuild the school’s football team beginning next year.

The Charlotte 49ers (just like TCU) are not being discussed by the media this week.

The focus, as it has been for months, has been on North Carolina coach Bill Belichick.

A win over North Carolina and its Hall-of-Fame NFL coach would be the biggest moment in the history of Charlotte 49ers football.  They will definitely be ready.

Do you think there’s enough pressure on UNC to win this game on Saturday night?

The post Club Medicare’s Football Coaches appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

I am laboring on this Labor Day Monday as we begin the month of September.  The deep South looks forward to heat indexes (hopefully) retreating to less than 100 degrees daily as hurricane season still looms along the Gulf Coast.

The first full weekend of college football has concluded with only tonight’s “Bill Belichick Bowl” game remaining on the schedule. 

The legendary NFL coach will lead the University of North Carolina for the first time as the Tar Heels host TCU at 7PM on ESPN.  The visiting Horned Frogs are a surprising three point favorite.

The first weekend of college football could be titled “Cupcake Week” as most teams schedule lesser competition for their opening home game.

The results over the weekend confirmed that 83% of the FBS (large division) home teams won their first game.

One of the biggest takeaways from the first week of college football has been from teams which spent a large amount of money to lure new talent to their schools.  We’ll analyze that after discussing a few interesting stories from Week #1 in college football.

Hooray!  Two long losing streaks have come to an end

Congratulations to FCS member Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA.

The Demons broke a 20-game losing streak to win their first football game since November 5, 2022 with a solid 20-10 win over the Alcorn State Braves of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The 1-0 Demons have their work cut out this week as they travel to play Big Ten member Minnesota on Saturday at 11AM CDT.

The 17-game losing streak of FBS member Kent State in Ohio also came to an end this weekend as well.

The Golden Flashes capitalized on a 100-yard kickoff return with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to secure a 21-17 win over FCS member Merrimack from North Andover, Massachusetts.

The Golden Flashes winning streak will likely come to a screeching halt this week as Kent State visits high-scoring #23 Texas Tech this Saturday at 11AM in Lubbock. The game will be televised nationally on TNT.

A Tale of Two Coaches

The late Saturday afternoon game featuring Alabama traveling to Florida State may have saved one coach’s career while adding tons of weight to the other.

Florida State coach Mike Norvell went 13-1 in 2023 as he garnered several Coach of the Year awards. University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer went 14-1 as his Huskies finished national runner-up to unbeaten Michigan. DeBoer surprised many by accepting the job to become Nick Saban’s replacement at the University of Alabama.

The year 2024 saw Mike Norvell’s Florida State team implode to a disastrous 2-10 record. 

Internet searches for the term “Mike Norvell buyout” dominated the past 10 months.

New Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer went 9-4 in his first season with the Crimson Tide as the team failed to reach the new 12-team college football playoffs.

Oddsmakers made Alabama a two touchdown road favorite to defeat Florida State on Saturday.

That didn’t happen. FSU spotted Bama an opening touchdown and then rolled to a convincing 31-17 win over the Crimson Tide to open the season 1-0.

Google searches for “Kalen DeBoer buyout” skyrocketed this weekend.  His contract would require a $69 million payment to terminate his 8-year deal after this season ends.

Coach Brian Kelly finally gets a season opening win at LSU!

The person in charge of scheduling season opening games for the LSU Tigers made life quite difficult for Coach Brian Kelly.

The head football coach for the Bayou Bengals is beginning his fourth season in Baton Rouge.

Season openers in his first three years came against Florida State (a 24-23 loss in New Orleans in 2022), Florida State again in 2023 (a 45-24 pummeling in Orlando), and against Southern Cal in 2024 (a 27-20 defeat in Las Vegas).  Kelly was 0-3 heading into Saturday night’s visit to play #4 Clemson in South Carolina.

LSU’s solid 17-10 win on the road at Clemson may have been the most impressive win of college football’s opening weekend. Coach Brian Kelly’s team was stocked with incoming transfer players – especially on the defensive side of the football.

LSU’s NIL spending was reportedly up to $18 million in the offseason.

The Tigers’ defense was a pleasant surprise as they limited Clemson’s running game to just 31 yards on 20 carries.  Clemson’s Heisman hopeful quarterback Cade Klubnik was relatively ineffective.  He completed 19 of 38 passes for just 230 yards with one interception on the night.

LSU’s running game helped Louisiana’s Tigers dominate the time of possession 37 minutes to just 23 for the home Tigers of Clemson.  Sophomore Kaden Durham bounced off Clemson tacklers all night in rushing for 74 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown.

Garrett Nussmeier was accurate and efficient (29 completions in 39 attempts for 230 yards and one touchdown) in guiding the LSU offense to victory. 

LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the pivotal second half.

Clemson (0-1) has another home game this Saturday at 2:30PM versus Sunbelt Conference member Troy. LSU (1-0) will host its first home football game of the season on Saturday night against intrastate rival Louisiana Tech with kickoff at 6:30PM CST.

Texas Longhorns fall short in a disappointing 14-7 opening loss at Ohio State

Headline – Preseason rankings are worthless.

The Texas Longhorns were given the mythical #1 ranking before the first game had been played this season. Texas went 13-3 last year in advancing to the college football semifinal round.  Highly touted redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning from New Orleans would finally get his chance to guide the Horns this season.

Defending national champion Ohio State made life difficult for Manning’s Texas teammates in a taking 14-7 win on Saturday in a defensive struggle.

Manning completed 17 of 30 passes for just 170 yards with a touchdown and one interception in the game.

Texas (0-1) now plays three straight home games against lesser competition as San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston visit Austin during the month of September.  The Horns will travel to play the Florida Gators on Saturday, October 4 in Gainesville.

The Ohio State (1-0) schedule is also rather weak.  FCS member Grambling State visits this Saturday with Mid-American Conference intrastate foe Ohio University coming to Columbus on the following weekend.

Notre Dame (as usual) was overrated

Sunday night’s #6 Notre Dame at #10 Miami (FL) game featured former University of Georgia quarterback Carson Beck making his debut for the Hurricanes.

Miami dominated most of the game with Beck completing 20 of 31 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.  Highly touted Notre Dame freshman quarterback C.J. Carr played well at times as he went 19-31 for 221 yards with two touchdowns.  Carr had an untimely fourth quarter interception.

The Fighting Irish rallied in the fourth quarter with two scores to tie the game at 24 apiece.  Miami kicked a late field goal to take a 27-24 win.

Miami (1-0) flashed a few brilliant offensive and defensive plays on Sunday night. The Canes will host FCS member Bethune-Cookman and the red hot South Florida Bulls prior to playing a fourth straight home game against the University of Florida Gators on Saturday, September 20.

Notre Dame (0-1) takes this week off before traveling to College Station to play Texas A&M on Saturday, September 13 at 6:30PM CDT on NBC. Ouch!

Week 1 Observation – Some of the NIL money appears to have been well spent!

The LSU Tigers spent up to $18 million in NIL loot primarily to improve their defense.  A 17-10 win at Clemson on Saturday night confirmed that LSU’s investments have paid dividends through Week #1.

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck decided against entering the NFL after three years with the Georgia Bulldogs.  Instead, he accepted about $4 million worth of NIL incentives to transfer and play his final year of eligibility at the University of Miami.  The 27-24 win over Notre Dame on Sunday night advanced Miami to 1-0.

University of Michigan NIL bonus baby quarterback Bryce Underwood appears to be off to a good start with a 34-17 win over New Mexico.  Underwood completed 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown in the win.  He reportedly was offered about $12 million in NIL cash to forego signing with LSU and play for the Wolverines.

Ohio State’s $4 million NIL deal with wide receiver Jeremiah Smith resulted in six catches for 43 yards in OSU’s 14-7 win over Texas on Saturday.  His excellent performance during the 2024 season has defenses paying much closer attention to his pass receiving routes this season.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning’s nearly $7 million NIL worth may or may not prove to be a good investment for the Longhorns.  Losing a close game at the home stadium of the defending national champion Ohio State was not very surprising.  Manning needs to up his mental game over the next month in preparation for SEC conference play.

Florida State spent a reported $12 million on NIL incentives for transfer players in the offseason.  The Seminoles 31-17 trouncing of Alabama on Saturday will entice more Florida State fans to donate money into the NIL collective kitty this week.

Like it or not, welcome to the new world of college football.

The post College Football Week 1 – NIL Investments Paying Dividends appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Arghh, matey!  Thar be pirates on ye doorsteps at this time of year!

Sports television customers who abandoned overpriced cable television systems in favor of internet-based YouTube TV have been on edge for the past week.

FOX and Google-owned YouTube TV became the latest parties to threaten to punish sports customers with the loss of college and professional football programming right before this first weekend of football.

The two parties established a Wednesday, August 27 deadline. 

FOX and YouTube TV were attempting to reach a new contract agreement to compensate FOX for its programming content being shown on YouTube TV.

These two television pirates had drawn a line onto the floor – only days before the first weekend of college football was coming.

The angst of millions of YouTube TV customers looking forward to Week #1 in college football was palpable.

Thankfully, the parties reached a temporary short-term extension late Wednesday afternoon.  YouTube TV customers may breathe a collective sigh of relief as this weekend’s FOX college football games will air as scheduled – at least for this week.

The current cease fire between these two bands of media pirates may or may not hold for long.  Don’t let your guard down!

The loss of FOX would have included the traditional over-the-air FOX television network stations but also cable/internet sports affiliates such as FS1, FS2, and the Big Ten Network.

This Saturday’s top rated college football game with #1 Texas at #3 Ohio State at 11AM CDT on FOX would have been in jeopardy – at least for YouTube TV customers.

FOX has invested billions of dollars to beef up its coverage of college football and NFL games.  They are now making the rounds to demand additional compensation to recover the dollars which the company (over)paid for those investments.

Guess who will pay for it?  You and I will, that’s who!

The customers always foot the bill – until we refuse to watch it anymore.

Does this latest game of “Make your customers walk the plank!” sound familiar?

It should.

Football season has brought very (un)timely major contract disputes between sports television content providers and the parties who deliver those games into your home television set.

Almost exactly one year ago, a 2024 battle royale occurred between Disney (owner of ABC and ESPN) and DirecTV (a satellite and internet service system with 11 million customers).

The two parties eventually reached an agreement on additional compensation for Disney after about two weeks of sports blackouts angered millions of DirecTV customers.

The same time period in 2023 had Disney squaring off with Charter Communications and its 32 million cable TV customers in 41 states.  Their contract impasse lasted from August 31 through September 11, 2023.  Both companies angered plenty of customers in the process.

There have been other recent examples.  There will be PLENTY more in the years to come as home viewers will be forced to ante-up to pay for the cost of more football on television.

This game isn’t just played during football season

January 1, 2025 came with howls of complaints originating from the New York City metropolitan area.

That’s when cable and internet provider Optimum discontinued customers’ access to the MSG Network.  Madison Square Garden Network provides regional coverage of New York City’s two NBA franchises and its three area NHL hockey teams.

Optimum wanted to pass along a whopping $45 per month price increase from $95 to $140 per month to customers on January 1 of this year in order to retain the MSG Sports Network in their package.

The two parties couldn’t reach an agreement so Optimum removed MSG Network from its programming line-up on January 1.  It took 45 days to reach an agreement in mid-February as New York’s basketball and hockey fans were on the verge of customer mutiny.

Arghh!

Optimum customers seeking to watch their favorite sports teams will now pay (dearly) as they are required to purchase a new premium service tier in order to receive MSG Network sports programs.

Oh, no!  Congress is (eventually) coming to your rescue!

Disrupting sports programming in the New York City area will cause much more media outrage than when the same thing happens in a Southern city like Shreveport, Louisiana.

The irate New York City area sports fans motivated two politicians to get involved.

A “Stop Sports Blackout Act” bill was introduced into the US House and Senate earlier this year.  New York House of Representative member Pat Ryan and New Jersey Senator Chris Murphy are the co-sponsors.

Senator Murphy stated, “Our bill is simple. If cable companies can’t provide the service you’re paying for, they owe you a refund!”

Yeah…You tell ’em, Senator!

Representative Pat Ryan bloviated his righteous indignation, too.  He added, “It’s outrageous that millions of folks can’t watch the Knicks, Judy Justice, or dozens of programs for weeks because of blackouts!”

Translated – “I’m mad as heck, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Thanks, Congressmen, but I may have a better suggestion

Both companies should be required to maintain all current services at the previous rates until the two parties conclude negotiations – regardless of how long that takes.  Congress should not permit the customers to be charged one dime (retroactive or prorated future price adjustments) during the period of extended negotiations.  The interim incremental costs should be shared equally by the greedy corporate entities.

That would force both parties’ to wrap-up negotiations long before any deadline passes.

Who pays for these standoffs?  You do, of course!

Nearly every game being played over this first full weekend of college football will appear on television on a growing smorgasbord of networks.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SEC Network, ACC Network, CBS, CBS Sports Net, NBC, Peacock, FOX, FS1, Big Ten Network, CW Network, TNT, SWAC TV, and two companies called MidCoSports+ and FloFootball will each televise one or more football games this weekend.

I counted 25 college football games (both large and small division schools) being televised on Thursday, August 28.  There will be 14 more on Friday, 87 games on Saturday, two on Sunday, and one final game on Labor Day Monday.

That makes 129 televised college football games this weekend.

Each game needs a production crew of camera operators, audio and lighting technicians, graphics, instant replay, and a number of other trained staffers.

Don’t forget the two (or three) booth announcers.  Most games will also feature a female sideline reporter to let us know that Bubba just hurt his knee on that last series and is out for the game.

It costs a small fortune to televise those 129 games this weekend.  Guess who’ll foot the bill?

Yes, you will (ultimately) pay for this!

You might think that sitting through nearly one full hour of commercials for each of these 3 ½ hour college football games should be plenty to offset the costs.

Au contraire!

Cable television and internet TV providers must find another way to pass the costs to those of you who watched Thursday night’s Central Arkansas at Missouri game (won by Mizzou 61-6) on the SEC Network.  The costs of individual game production and the allocated portion of the massive payments made to secure the broadcast rights has been (or will be) rolled into your monthly cable or internet TV service bill.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Congressman Ryan and Senator Murphy’s new bill would require every cable television and internet television service provider to list the cost for every single channel which is included in your monthly TV package?

There are no financial incentives for any of the parties involved in this insidious game of pass-through to lower their prices, either.

College and NFL teams continue to raise more money increased operating costs (players, coaches, staff, etc.) in the form of higher prices for tickets, concessions, parking, and merchandise.  Most are making plenty of money.

University presidents and NFL franchise owners will continue to press for higher and higher television rights fees from the expanding number of traditional, cable, and internet-based television networks competing for football games.  That’s because millions of mostly male viewers in the prime buying demographic age group (25-49) are very attractive for advertisers.

That “winning” network immediately turns to the parties carrying their higher-priced product offering and demands more money to cover their added costs.

Finally, the cable television or internet TV service delivering the product to your household will raise its monthly price to you and blame it on all of those evil parties up the supply chain.  Of course, your home TV provider isn’t willing to you their actual costs by channel as it would reveal how much mark-up they are adding to your home bill.

None of the parties are losing money today, or there would be a lot fewer competitors.

A look into the mirror reveals who is to blame for the higher costs of sports

Lower demand for televised football is the only thing which will bring lower prices at home.

Perhaps it might be a good time to start watching less football on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday beginning this fall.

Buy a $30 digital TV antenna.  Cut your cable TV cord if you live close to a reasonably sized city with several over-the-air stations.  You could buy a new set of golf clubs with the money you save over just a one-year period.

If you ditch your cable TV, don’t go purchase a “cheaper” internet-based sports substitute such as ESPN+ or any other online product offering.  Once you’re hooked on the new product, the price will be rising soon enough.

This is a very difficult addiction to kick, but we can do this together!

Much like Alcoholics Anonymous and its effective 12-step program, we must first admit to our increasing sports addiction.  Sports fans must approach this as a “one-day-at-a-time” journey back to a life of sports normalcy.

It’s time to rediscover playing golf, fishing, bowling, working in the yard, or some of our other former hobbies during the fall.  I (generally) limit myself to watching just one football game per day.

Once enough sports fans actually start reducing our weekly televised sports intake in greater numbers, the sports pricing pendulum may finally swing back in the customers’ favor.

Avast!  Those sports pirates are coming, and they want all yer loot, matey!

The post Return of the Sports TV Pirates! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Check your email inbox! 

It’s that time again.

Yes, your Fantasy Football League has likely scheduled its annual draft within the next seven days.  

The NFL season kicks-off a week from Thursday (September 4) as the Dallas Cowboys head to the City of Brotherly Love to tangle with their arch-enemy Philadelphia Eagles.

Then again, EVERY team in the NFC East considers Dallas to be their arch-enemy.

Supporters of the New York Giants and Washington Commanders (ugh – I still loathe that nickname) dislike Dallas every bit as much as those good-natured (sarcasm intended) Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Philadelphia is this year’s reigning Super Bowl champion.  They clobbered Travis Kelce (soon to be known as “Mr. Taylor Swift”) and the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in New Orleans in February.

Checking this year’s Crystal Ball (Las Vegas version)

Unsurprisingly, the professional prognosticators in Las Vegas still love the Philadelphia Eagles to repeat as champions this season.

Vegas oddsmakers have made the NFC’s Eagles as the betting favorite for a return trip to this year’s title game. 

Three AFC teams (Baltimore, Buffalo, and Kansas City) are expected to slug it out to represent their conference at the February 6, 2026 finale to be held in Santa Clara, California.

Here is how the “experts” are predicting each team’s win total for the 17-game regular season:

Ol’ SwampSwami (by no means an expert) generally agrees.

My review of the NFL schedule also suggested that the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints appear to have two of the easiest schedules this season.  I am picking Buffalo to go 12-5 this year and my beloved Saints to finish at 8-9 (not great but exceeding Vegas’ expectations).

The Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants seem to have drawn rather difficult schedules in 2025.  Don’t be surprised if their records are a little worse than Las Vegas is predicting.

Why does the difficulty of a team’s schedule matter in Fantasy Football?

Check out the road games which the Detroit Lions will play this season.

The Lions travel to play at Green Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Washington, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota, and Chicago on the road. Every one of those teams (except the Bears) posted a winning record in 2024.  Ouch!

Conversely, the New Orleans Saints have a cream puff home schedule featuring Arizona, San Francisco, New York Giants, New England, and New York Jets in addition to NFC South members Atlanta, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.

Only the Bucs posted a winning record in 2024. Will the Saints capitalize on this gift from the NFL scheduling computer?

Your Fantasy Football league competitors are quite aware of the likely top teams in 2025.  However, your knowledge of which NFL teams are playing the hardest schedules might just provide a key advantage on Draft Night for your fantasy football league team.

Unfortunately, my New Orleans Saints are also likely to give-up a lot of points defensively. Buffalo’s Kryptonite also seems to be concentrated on the defensive side of the football.

The longer the opposition team is able to control the football, the less time your favorite offense has to score points.

SwampSwami’s Golden Rule – ALWAYS draft the best players from the likely playoff contenders as they become available

That sounds like common sense, and it is.

You might be surprised how many of your fantasy football league buddies will make early round picks of players on teams which are likely going nowhere at the end of the regular season.

My fantasy football team (SwampGas) finished with a 9-5 regular season record last season.  Four of my first five players selected in my league’s 2024 draft came from winning teams (Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco (oops), Los Angeles Rams, and Buffalo).

So, make it easy on yourself during the early rounds.  Stick to your game plan and draft the most talented players from the top teams – especially in the early and middle rounds.

Once those top players are depleted, look for the proverbial “best players available” regardless of team.

Save most of your “Wile E. Coyote – Super Genius!” selections (especially on untested rookies) for the final few rounds of your draft.

More Fantasy Football tips from SwampSwami

Let’s roll-out my annual Top Ten suggestions to help you enjoy the upcoming NFL fantasy football season:

Best of luck this season with your Fantasy Football League team!

The post Fantasy Football Tips – Have More Fun in 2025! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

A large number of football players who played on the 32 NFL teams over the weekend will be visiting Floyd’s Barber Shop early this week. 

Mayberry’s favorite barber, Floyd Lawson, will (theoretically) be dealing with a lot of players over the next day or so.

Teams are permitted to utilize 90 players in during the NFL’s three game preseason which just ended over the weekend.  The teams are required to trim their roster to 53 active players by 3PM CDT on Tuesday, August 26.

Each team will send 37 players (90 minus 53) packing early this week.

The math adds up to 1,184 NFL preseason football players being sent home by late Tuesday afternoon of this week.

Thankfully, some players who are waived or released may still find a job with the same team or, possibly, another NFL franchise.

Veteran NFL players being released this week with four or more seasons are considered “vested”.  They become unrestricted free agents immediately and can sign with any other team.  Those vested players will be paid at the same salary level after signing with their new football team.

The remaining “unvested” players (rookies through players with three seasons in the league) are placed on waivers.  They are forced to wait another 24 hours to learn their fate.

Amber “waives” of pain

The term “waiver” means that any of the other 31 NFL teams are provided a brief opportunity to sign a released player to their roster.  The teams with the worst records from the previous season have priority in the claiming process.

The other 31 NFL teams have 24 hours to claim the player being waived.  A rookie or veteran player with less than four years in the NFL being claimed from waivers must report to his new team immediately.  The player will (generally) be paid at the same salary and contract terms as he received with his former team.

All players going unclaimed after the waiver process ends become free agents.  The player is allowed to sign with any NFL team (including his former team) and be paid a mutually agreeable salary and contract terms. 

The chosen few – There are 1,696 pro football jobs in the NFL

The 32 NFL teams are permitted to keep 53 active players on their regular season roster.  That totals 1,696 jobs which are, for the most part, secure for the upcoming football season.

Statistically speaking, the average pay for the 53 players on each NFL team was $3.2 million in 2024.

You’ve read about teams paying star wide receivers $35 million, defensive rushing specialists $40 million, and quarterbacks making $50 million or more every season.

Most other players on the 53-man roster will necessarily make less than the team’s $3.2 million average pay to help cover the cost of the team’s star players.

Remember the Taxi squad?

Each NFL team is permitted to keep up to 17 players on their practice squad.  Basically, these players help prepare the 53-man regular season roster to prepare for each upcoming game.

Pro football players now play a grueling 17-game regular season.  They are subject to frequent injuries and need time to recover – especially in the early part of the week.

Practice squad players are instrumental in filling many of those positional needs during the week before each game.

Pay for the practice squad players will be about $13,000 per week ($221,000 per year for a 17-game regular season) in 2025.  Veteran players are permitted to negotiate and receive slightly higher weekly pay.

Some of us remember are old enough to remember when the extra NFL practice players were called the “Taxi Squad.”

Interestingly, late 1940’s Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown is responsible for that term.  Smaller revenue streams forced NFL teams to carry a bare minimum of players.

Coach Paul Brown kept several extra players around Cleveland by getting them jobs driving local taxis.  Actually, some of these players only pretended to work as taxi drivers.

They showed-up at Cleveland Browns team practices and were paid under-the-table by the team owner.

Other NFL teams quickly discovered this clever (cheating) maneuver and did the same thing.

Eventually, the NFL agreed to add more active roster players and established guidelines for maintaining this small group of reserve players for practice purposes.

Good-bye, Taxi Squad!

What percentage of this week’s players being cut will find another NFL job?

Historically, about 25% of the NFL players being cut/waived/released by their preseason team this week will find another job in the league soon.

The lucky survivors are most likely to be re-signed by the same team and become part of the 17-player practice squad.  Familiarity with the team’s coaches, playbook and other players make that a logical decision.

Many of these other unemployed players may seek a job in the Canadian Football League.  Unfortunately, the CFL regular season is already underway and will end on October 2.

Some of these players might want to take a shot at playing in next spring’s United Football League (assuming there will be another season of UFL spring football, that is).  The pay for most UFL players this spring was about $62,000 per season.

A significant number of the football players being cut this week will be shocked at the sudden end of their careers.  These athletic stars in high school and, perhaps, college football were facing exceptional competition for the first time as they entered the professional ranks.

A predictable new trend is quickly developing. 

Many college football players are deciding to stick around in school until they exhaust eligibility rather than taking a risk of being cut by the NFL.

Sadly, the players aren’t sticking around (necessarily) to receive a degree.

College Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules allows football players to legally receive hundreds of thousands or, in some cases, millions of dollars at major universities.  More “good-but-not-great” football players are delaying heading to the NFL for safer earnings by staying another year in college.

What is going to happen with these well-known NFL players?

Shedeur Sanders (QB – Cleveland Browns) – the fifth round pick played well in Cleveland’s first preseason game but was injured and didn’t play in Game #2.  Sanders was Cleveland’s third quarterback of the day during Saturday’s final preseason game.

He completed three of six passes for just 14 yards.  Worse, Shedeur Sanders was sacked five times in just one quarter of action with one of those mental errors resulting in a backwards scrambling 24-yard loss.

Sanders may get lucky as the Browns are expected to keep four quarterbacks on the roster (most teams keep no more than three).  The Browns could waive him and try to re-sign him to the team’s practice squad if no other NFL team claims the rookie QB off waivers.

Shedeur Sanders’ preseason showing has proven that the media (as usual) was guilty in creating and pushing most of the hype.  Sanders fell to the fifth round in the NFL draft for good reason.

Anthony Richardson (QB – Indianapolis Colts) – Richardson’s demise is much like former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell almost twenty years ago.

Both players were selected with a #1 draft pick along with expectations that they would quickly become top NFL quarterbacks.  Each player was physically gifted and could throw a football through the proverbial brick wall.

Alas, neither Russell nor Richardson connected enough with their own wide receivers.  The NFL demands accurate passing skills along with deft on-field awareness.

Anthony Richardson is now entering his third season with the Indianapolis Colts.

He was benched during this year’s preseason in favor of former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.  Anthony Richardson’s best hope for a fresh start is to be traded to another NFL team with a long-term quarterback need.  Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, and the L.A. Rams may be willing to give-up a late round draft pick to the Colts to give Richardson a second chance with a new team.

There is some positive news to report!

The NFL’s regular season is going to begin in less than two weeks.  I’ll have my annual Fantasy Football guide in the coming days.

Stay tuned!

The post Floyd the Barber is Busy Giving NFL Trims appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

We are still in the middle of the silly sports season called summer.

A 2024 story resurfaced this week where legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus shared his list of four players comprising his personal “Mount Rushmore” of golf.

The now 85-year old Nicklaus responded that he would consider Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, and, in Jack’s words, “I’d like to join them myself. That’s four!”

It’s hard to be humble when this man holds the all-time record for most major titles in men’s golf history with 18.

Jack Nicklaus is a slam-dunk #1 on ol’ SwampSwami’s list, too.

Tiger Woods comes next at #2

Tiger Woods is second all-time with 15 major championship titles.  He remains tied with Sam Snead for the most victories on the PGA Tour with 82 professional wins. Nicklaus is third with 73.

Woods’ impact drove a new wave of golf popularity for twenty years.  His amazing run of high level golf boosted television audiences to record levels, too.

Tiger Woods was asked to name four golfers for his Mount Rushmore collection.   

His quartet included Sam Snead, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and (of course) himself.

Every current pro golfer on the PGA and LIV Golf tours should thank Tiger Woods for today’s significantly higher golf tournament payouts than 30 years ago.

Accordingly, Tiger Woods’ golf accomplishments earned the #2 spot on SwampSwami’s list.

I believe that the remaining two faces on the men’s professional golf version of Mount Rushmore deserve closer evaluation.

What standards should be used to determine who appears on golf’s Mt. Rushmore?

The actual Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills just southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota.  It receives about two million visitors each year as part of the National Park Service.

It took 14 years from 1927 until October, 1941 to slowly carve the 60-foot faces of four US Presidents into the southeastern side of this granite mountain at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level.

Thankfully, no one was killed during the 14-year construction period for Mount Rushmore.

Surprisingly, the cost of the completed project in 1941 came to a little less than $1 million.  The inflation adjusted cost shows a 2025 price tag of about $22 million.

R-i-g-h-t!  The geology studies alone would probably cost more than that today.

The four US Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.

They were chosen “to represent the nation’s founding, expansion, development, and preservation”.

Shouldn’t we look at the all-time list of greatest men’s golfers utilizing a similar discipline?

Let’s climb this mountain and apply similar standards to determine the next two golf legends for our Mount Rushmore of the sport

Walter Hagen – 11 major championships / 44 PGA Tour wins

Another early golf pioneer was Walter Hagen.  He competed as a professional during much of the same era as Bobby Jones.

Walter “The Father of Professional Golf” Hagen won all of his major championships between 1914 and 1929.  He won five PGA Championships, four British Opens, and two US Opens.

Hagen ranks #3 on the all-time professional majors list with 11 behind only Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15).

Scorecard for Walter Hagen:

Founding – A

Expansion – B+

Development – B

Preservation – B

Ben Hogan – 9 major championships / 64 PGA Tour wins

Ben Hogan’s personal story is legendary.  The “Wee Mon” picked-up six of his golf majors after recovering from a near-death automobile collision with an oncoming Greyhound bus.

Hogan is one of just six players (including Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy) to have won all four of golf’s professional major championships.

Hogan played from the late 1930’s into the 1960’s.  His nine majors included four US Opens, two PGA Championships, two Masters green jackets, and one British Open title.

Scorecard for Ben Hogan:

Founding – n/a

Expansion – B

Development – A

Preservation – B

Gary Player – 9 major championships / 20 PGA Tour wins / 160 worldwide wins

South Africa’s Gary Player is tied with Ben Hogan’s nine major wins. 

Dubbed “The Black Knight”, Player won The Masters and the British Open three times each.  He also snared two PGA Championships and one US Open title.

Gary Player began playing professional golf in the 1950’s.  He posted a record 160 career wins over seven decades on six different continents.  Additionally, Gary Player still tees-up to play golf exhibition matches today at the age of 89!

Gary Player has participated in designing more than 400 golf courses around the world and authored 36 books on golf and fitness.

Scorecard for Gary Player:

Founding – n/a

Expansion – A (worldwide ambassador for golf)

Development – A (hundreds of worldwide golf course designs)

Preservation – A

Bobby Jones – 7 Professional Majors (as an Amateur) + 5 US Amateurs

Robert Tyre Jones played golf as an amateur for his entire life.

Jones became an Atlanta attorney to provide his primary income.  Most professional golfers during the 1920’s and 1930’s were unable to earn enough money playing golf from tour events to cover their annual expenses.

Bobby Jones is still considered to be the only US men’s golfer to hold the “Grand Slam” by winning different four majors during the same calendar year (1930).  He won the US Open, British Open plus the US Amateur and the British Amateur in 1930.

Interestingly, Jones’ amateur status prevented him from participating in the PGA Championship.  The Masters tournament (which Jones helped to get started) didn’t begin until the year 1934.

Bobby Jones dominated golf during the 1920’s.  He won five US Amateurs, four US Opens, and three British Open titles.  That gave him seven professional golf majors plus five US Amateurs.

Scorecard for Bobby Jones:

Founding – A

Expansion – B+

Development – A (founder of The Masters golf tournament)

Preservation – A (for retaining his amateur status throughout his career)

Sam Snead – 7 major championships / 82 PGA Tour wins

The golfer with the smoothest golf swing on the PGA Tour was Sam Snead (though Ernie Els is right up there with him).  Slammin’ Sammy won PGA Tour events in four different decades (1930’s-1960’s) with his first and last coming almost 40 years apart.

Sam Snead is tied with Tiger Woods at 82 career PGA Tour victories apiece.  His professional major wins included three Masters’ titles, three PGA Championships, and the 1946 British Open.  Snead finished second an incredible four times at the US Open to fall just short of winning the career Grand Slam.

Scorecard for Sam Snead:

Founding – n/a

Expansion – A- (played during the early stages of Arnold Palmer growth era)

Development – B

Preservation – A (Snead left the tour to join the US Navy during WWII)

Arnold Palmer – 7 major championships / 62 PGA Tour wins

The charismatic Arnold Palmer lifted golf into the stratosphere beginning in the late 1950’s and continuing into the late 1970’s.

Arnie’s “go for broke” playing style drew millions of new fans to the sport during the early days of televised golf tournaments.  As a result, prize money zoomed upward enough to provide professional golfers a chance to play full-time on tour for the first time.

Appropriately, Arnold Palmer was dubbed “The King” by his fellow professional golfers and legions of “Arnie’s Army” fans.

Palmer won four Masters titles, two British Opens, and one US Open.  He would finish second an agonizing three times at the PGA Championship to fall short of capturing the career Grand Slam.

Arnold Palmer became one of the most influential sports personalities of modern times. 

He was a successful advertising pitchman, a golf course architect, golf club designer, and a highly successful businessman who owned several car dealerships.

Scorecard for Arnold Palmer:

Founding – n/a

Expansion – A+ (fueling the PGA Tour’s expansion and greater tournament purses)

Development – A (for worldwide golf course design)

Preservation – A (for inspiring a generation of millions of new golfers)

Time to unveil SwampSwami’s Mount Rushmore of golf!

My grading system revealed the following results in determining the #3 and #4 golfers heading for the SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of men’s golf:

3. Arnold Palmer – 4.0 GPA (Golf Points Average)

4. Gary Player – 4.0 GPA

5. Bobby Jones – 3.75 GPA

6. Sam Snead – 3.67 GPA

7. Ben Hogan – 3.33 GPA

8. Walter Hagen – 3.25 GPA

Without reservation, modern golf would not be where it is today without “The King”, Arnold Palmer. 

Arnie receives some bonus credit for supercharging the popularity of professional golf.  He is a very deserving #3 – at least on my list.

I am placing Gary Player in the final spot on my Mount Rushmore of golf.  Player’s incredible impact on the worldwide stage is worthy of closer appreciation. 

As Arnold Palmer transformed golf in the USA, Gary Player helped to advance the (golf) ball in Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America beginning in the 1950’s and for decades to come.

Congratulations to Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.

Each has earned their place on my SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of golf!

The post Golf’s Mount Rushmore – without Arnie? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

We are officially less than one week from seeing our first legitimate football games of the new season.

This Saturday’s 11AM CDT (on ESPN) college football kickoff begins with Iowa State visiting Kansas State in the first game of the 2025 season.

A limited number of games will be played on Saturday, August 23.  FCS member Idaho State visits UNLV, Fresno State travels to Kansas (5:30 PM CDT on FOX), Sam Houston goes to play at Conference USA foe Western Kentucky, and Hawaii hosts Stanford (6:30PM on traditional CBS).

The following weekend on Saturday, August 30 features the majority of college football teams taking the field for their first game of the year.

Several delicious opening games on August 30th begin with Texas at Ohio State at 11AM Central.  Alabama visits Florida State that afternoon, and the LSU Tigers play a night game at Clemson’s version of Death Valley to end a big day of college football.

I plan to get together with a couple of long-time friends to watch a few of those August 30th games.  We talk occasionally and share the same question entering this football season.

What can we expect to see this year?

College football and the National Football League are like Christmas presents sitting under the tree.

They are neatly wrapped-up as you try to guess the contents for weeks ahead of time.

Those presents are about to be unwrapped soon for football fans.

Expect some big surprises this year as the NIL Grinch continues to plague college football.

The Scrooge of the NFL may cause some disappointments, too.

College Football’s NCAA Transfer Portal and NIL Conundrum

The roster for many college football teams will feature a larger number of transfer players than in any previous year.

Those big money schools have accumulated a vault full of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) loot to spend on players. 

Most will enter this fall’s football season believing that their incoming transfer players are going to bring them greater success on the field.

Says who?

How did that work out for Florida State (2-10) last year?

Coach Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers have added 18 new transfer players for this season. 

LSU has spent $13.5 million trying to buy loads of new talent to hoping to improve the results for this year’s football team.

It became legal effective July 1, 2025.

This June’s “Big, Ugly, Settlement Agreement” (read my summary here) permits the athletic departments of universities to be the parties writing the checks to pay athletes – including the incoming transfer portal bonus babies.

I can remember when LSU’s elite recruits were sighted zipping around campus in their expensive new cars.

Those were the days, eh?

Cash has returned as king in 2025.  But will these changes bring the expected results for college football teams?

Clemson remains on the outside of the NCAA Transfer Portal game

Coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers are an anomaly in today’s major college football programs. He has largely stayed away from utilizing the NCAA transfer portal over the past few years.

The 55-year old Swinney has led Clemson to a couple of national championships (2016 and 2018) during his 16 years at the helm.  He has received a lot of flak in the past two seasons from Clemson supporters by not going fishing for expensive new transfers like the majority of top programs have done.

Swinney prefers to recruit and retain highly-rated high school stars in his program.  He believes that their long-term knowledge of the Clemson playbook along with practice and execution on the field can overcome any “Players for Hire” shopping their services via the NCAA’s transfer portal.

Ask Clemson’s 6’9” 385 pound offensive lineman Dominic Cardone.

He is a walk-on at Clemson.  Cardone grew-up dreaming of playing for the Clemson Tigers football team.  He did not receive an athletic scholarship from Clemson but earned a spot on the the team as a walk-on.

Dominic Cardone gladly accepts his role to help prepare a few of his team’s defensive linemen for a future career in the NFL.

Ironically, the NCAA’s recent “Big, Ugly Settlement Agreement” may end the days of college football walk-on players like Dominic Cardone.  Today’s new rules governing college football will permit few (if any) walk-ons as football rosters become smaller and limited to only players on scholarship.

It seems counter-intuitive that college football would move to cut thousands of non-scholarship athletes and, instead, force teams into a smaller roster of paid (scholarship) players.

Clemson’s giant offensive lineman Dominic Cardone has willingly accepted his role on the football team.  He wouldn’t change a thing about his non-scholarship walk-on experience at Clemson University.

Cardone said, “There’s cliches you could say about walk-ons, but I think we’re truly the heart and soul of the team. If that’s…getting destroyed by first round picks, I just want to do whatever I can to make this team better.”

The two teams of Tigers (Clemson and LSU) will square off on Saturday, August 30 (6:30PM on ABC) at South Carolina’s version of Death Valley.

We’re going to quickly find out which team’s personnel philosophy has paid off.

NFL – Will splashy free agent signings, trades, and draft choices quickly make a team better?

Sunday night’s nationally televised 38-0 preseason shellacking by the Chicago Bears over the Buffalo Bills left football fans scratching our collective heads.

Sure, it was a preseason game and should be heavily discounted.

Buffalo is considered to be one of the AFC’s top contenders again this season.  The Bills have posted six consecutive seasons with ten or more wins.

Unfortunately, the Kansas City Chiefs have “owned” the Bills 4-0 in post-season encounters during that same six year period.

Buffalo fans desperately want their beloved team to return to its first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season.

FOX Sports should demand a refund after the goose egg which Buffalo laid on national television Sunday night in Chicago.

Conversely, the Chicago Bears have posted only one winning season (2018) in the past 11 campaigns.  The team known as the “Monsters of the Midway” has performed more like the “Teddy Bears in the Baby Crib” over the past decade.

Chicago’s 2024 NFL draft brought a splashy #1 draft pick last year in quarterback Caleb Williams. 

He was joined in the first round by sure-handed wide receiver Rome Odunze.

This spring’s 2025 NFL draft had Chicago selecting former Michigan tight end Colston Loveland at #10 overall and former Missouri standout wide receiver Luther Burden III early in the second round.

The Chicago Bears’ offense is definitely legit.

Should Bears’ fans jump onto the bandwagon based on the team’s performance in its second preseason game?

Conversely, Buffalo’s porous defense was exposed yet again. 

The 0-2 Bills played Sunday’s game utilizing mostly second and third team players.  Buffalo has now allowed 72 points in two NFL pre-season games.

Buffalo’s lack of focus and effort seems to be a legitimate cause for concern entering the regular season.

Splish, Splash!  Don’t be distracted by these NFL teams

Cleveland – The Browns’ selection of former Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (3rd round) and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (5th round) was a big surprise. 

The Browns already have disappointing-and-oft-injured QB Deshaun Watson under an expensive contract.  They added former Pittsburgh #1 pick Kenny Pickett and 40-year old Joe Flacco.  That makes five quarterbacks!  Cleveland is 2-0 in preseason.  It is a mirage.

Pittsburgh – The Steelers finally made a deal to sign 41-year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  Pittsburgh then paid $40 million per year to sack-specialist linebacker T.J. Watt even though the Steelers’ defense has other needs to fill. 

Terrible Towel waving fans in the Steel City should be ready for anything this season.

Detroit – The Lions have never played in a Super Bowl. The past two seasons (12-5 in 2023 and 15-2 in 2024) have ended with heartbreak for Detroit fans.  Two top assistant coaches left for head coaching jobs during in the off-season.

Quarterback Jared Goff lost confidence in the playoffs last season by tossing three interceptions in a shocking 45-31 home loss to Washington.  Head Coach Dan Campbell (as usual) will continue to make questionable “Go for it!” decisions on fourth down.  No, thanks.  I have officially jumped off the Detroit bandwagon in January.

Kabuki Theater has become the norm

NFL teams entering into high-priced player contracts and making wholesale roster changes rarely pay off.  Don’t buy into the theatrics being displayed by some pro football teams during these preseason games, either.

It’s a good bet that all four teams left standing in January participating in the NFC and AFC Championship games will not come as a big surprise.

Fans of many college football and NFL teams should be wary of seeing shiny new wrapping.  You may be tempted to believe that your team’s fortunes will significantly change for the better this season.

Right, Charlie Brown?

The post Kabuki Theater Football appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Here is a brief summary of the previous post.

The most recent Athletics Director at UL-Monroe resigned on Monday.  John Hartwell’s background was incredibly solid. 

He had been the AD at Utah State and Troy before coming to ULM in early 2023.

I recently watched a video in which John Hartwell explained that his previous work experience had come in the financial services industry.  That certainly seems prudent if you are managing a college athletics budget worth millions of dollars.

ULM has suffered for years at the bottom of the FBS (large college) rung when it comes to the school’s annual athletics budget.  Nearly $21 million sounds like a lot of money until you learn that some schools in the Sunbelt Conference have double or almost triple that amount available.

A goal of the Athletics Director is to improve school spirit with students and alumni with a successful athletics program while doing so in a fiscally-responsible manner.

How do you compete with schools with more financial resources than yours?

A 2024 report provided a list of the athletics budget for the 134 FBS (major college) and several FCS (small college) universities. 

Surprisingly, UL-Monroe’s athletics budget was ranked #154.  Yes, several smaller division FCS schools had a larger athletics budget than the Warhawks from northeast Louisiana.  

The top group of financial giants contained some very familiar names. 

Ohio State was #1 with $251 million followed by #2 Texas ($239 mm), #3 Alabama ($214 mm), #4 Michigan ($210 mm), #5 Georgia ($203 mm), #6 LSU ($199 mm), #7 Texas A&M ($193 mm), #8 Florida ($190 mm), #9 Penn State ($181 mm), and #10 Oklahoma at $177 million.

To no one’s surprise, the past six years of football champions have come from that group.  Georgia (twice), Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama and LSU have all won the national title since 2019.

The smallest (?) athletics budget schools to win the national championship in football this century have been Clemson (#17 this year with $158 million), Florida State (#15 at $161 mm), and Auburn (#11 with $174 mm).

USC (2003) and Miami (2001) are both private schools.  Their annual athletics spending was not included in the survey, but they are likely within the top 20 teams in terms of revenue.

The Idaho Vandals tried the big time.  They went back to the FCS a few years ago

Idaho is well known for its potatoes.

The University of Idaho’s athletics department went from small potatoes (FCS) into the big potato league (FBS) starting in 1996.

The Vandals football team had been extremely successful in the smaller school FCS group.  The Big Sky Conference Idaho Vandals qualified for the FCS playoffs in 11 of the 12 years prior to making the big leap into the larger school FBS group.

The University of Idaho was admitted to the Big West Conference in 1996.  The Vandals then went southeast to join to the Sunbelt Conference (2001-2004). 

They returned west to enter the Western Athletics Conference (2005-2012).

Idaho had one “homeless” independent season in 2013 and made a second appearance in the Sunbelt Conference from 2014-2017.

The Vandals racked-up some impressive frequent flyer points during those years!

This 21-year experiment of playing within the top football division brought the Vandals only five winning seasons and three minor bowl game appearances.

Idaho’s Vandals posted five other FBS football seasons with just one win on their record.

Idaho opted out of the major college football ranks in 2018 and returned the FCS Big Sky Conference.

University President Chuck Staben said at the time, “Our relevance will be complemented by our football program, not defined by it.”

On the positive side, the Big Sky Conference Idaho Vandals have now posted three straight winning football seasons and participated in the FCS Playoffs in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Let’s review the University of Idaho’s athletics budget for 2024/2025

The Moscow, Idaho-based school has about 11,000 students.  The University of Idaho’s most recent athletics budget was made available to the public.  It provided a very detailed look at the revenues and expenses for the school’s sports programs as the Vandals compete at the FCS level in the Big Sky Conference.

The most recent year’s $18 million annual athletics budget shows about 25% going toward administration and general expenses.

The Athletics administration received $1.3 million (7.2% of the total budget).

General expenses consumed $3.4 million last year (18.3% of the total)

Those expenses included the training room ($1 million) with the equipment room second at $335,000.  Other general expenses at Idaho (in declining order of cost) were video support, media relations, strength & conditioning, the ticket office, and marketing/promotions.

There was a final line item for “all other costs” which was not itemized but represented $700,000 of the $3.4 million allocation of general expenses.

The remaining 74% of Idaho’s $18 million athletics budget (or $13.7 million) went to operate each of the school’s sports endeavors.

Men’s sports (five) utilized about 60% of that money. The seven women’s sports used about 40% of the remaining budget.

Let’s take a closer look at the University of Idaho men’s programs

Football (of course) checked-in as the most expensive sport for the Vandals’ athletics program at more than $3.6 million.

Men’s basketball ($1.2 million total) was next followed by track & field ($340,000), golf ($223,000), and tennis ($213,000).  Scholarships for men’s sports totaled $2.6 million in the most recent budget year.

Travel expenses averaged 30% of the men’s non-scholarship total.

The total expenses directly attributed to men’s sports at Idaho were about $8.2 million.

Now for the details about the Idaho Vandals’ women’s sports

Women’s basketball ($1.1 million) was the most expensive item.  The volleyball program ($560,000) was trailed by soccer ($520,000), swimming ($449,000), track and cross country ($340,000), golf ($217,000), and tennis ($212,000).

Scholarships for women’s sports showed a cost of a little more than $2 million last year.

Travel expenses represented about 33% of the women’s non-scholarship total.

Total expenses directly attributable to Idaho’s women’s sports were about $5.5 million.

Sports revenues at Idaho were a bit more complicated.  Let’s review!

The money needed to operate the University of Idaho’s athletics programs comes from several different sources.  The athletics endeavors alone provided $7.3 million of revenue in the most recent school year.

Those sources included:

Ticket Sales: $657,500 (80% from football)

Away-game Guarantees: $1,397,000 (83% from football)

Athletics – Gifts and Donations $2,300,000

NCAA shared revenues $ 529,500

Big Sky Conference revenues $ 20,000

Licensing Royalties $ 340,000

Radio broadcasting (Learfield Comm.) $ 575,000

Stadium naming rights $ 500,000

Endowment and Investments income $ 630,500

Media Fees – Big Sky Conf. Television $ 77,500

Other revenue – Football parking fees $ 50,000

Other revenue – Ticket office $ 190,000

Total direct revenues – Athletics: $7,337,000

Additional sources of money are needed to pay for athletics programs.  

The remaining funding came from:

General Education – Operating budget $4.3 million

Athletics Operation – Institutional support $3.6 million

Student Fees assessed by the school $1.9 million

Total revenues for Athletics: $17.137 million

Those student athletics fees equated to $173 per year for each of the 11,000 students at the University of Idaho.

The athletics program ran fairly close to break-even in the most recent year of operation at the FCS level.

The University of Idaho lost television revenues by dropping to the FCS but saved on travel expenses

Check out the highlighted line about the television revenues.  Teams in the FCS Big Sky Conference do not receive very much revenue from the current ESPN+ TV contracts.

The University of Idaho earned more TV revenue when it was a part of the FBS Sunbelt Conference.

However, any lost TV revenue may have been eclipsed by savings from much lower travel expenses.  The Vandals’ sports teams are playing against schools located much closer to Moscow, Idaho than those in the southeastern states of the Sunbelt Conference.

This plan worked for Idaho.  Will UL-Monroe stay put in the FBS Sunbelt or return to the FCS in the Southland Conference?

That is a very tough needle to thread.

UL-Monroe must raise revenues significantly to remain viable in the Sunbelt Conference.  It must also tightly control its expenses until the athletics department’s cash flow becomes positive.

The FBS Sunbelt Conference recently added ULM’s biggest rival, Louisiana Tech University. 

ULM and Louisiana Tech are expecting significantly higher attendance for their match-ups in every sport.

The revived rivalry will spark renewed local fan interest and increase revenues going into the Warhawks’ war chest.

ULM needs Louisiana Tech to become part of the Sunbelt Conference ASAP

Louisiana Tech is negotiating with Conference USA and wants to begin play in the Sunbelt Conference next year in 2026.  It is possible that C-USA may play hardball and force the Bulldogs to stick around for two more seasons instead of one.

The Louisiana Tech athletics budget of $29 million is nearly $10 million greater than their I-20 East rivals at ULM.

Regardless, the Bulldogs will enter the Sunbelt Conference as a relatively small dog (financially speaking, of course).

My Dog has fees!

The Sunbelt’s BIG dog is James Madison University with its $58 million athletics budget. 

JMU has more than 21,000 students.  Did you know that JMU charges its students $2,456 (correct) per academic year for “Intercollegiate Athletics”? 

Those fees generate more than $50 million per year!

James Madison is followed by Old Dominion ($53 million), Georgia State ($46 mm), Coastal Carolina ($45 mm), Marshall and South Alabama ($39 million each), Appalachian State ($38 mm), Troy University ($33.4 mm), UL-Lafayette ($33 mm), Arkansas State ($32 mm) and Georgia Southern at $30 million. 

Arkansas State charges all students $23 per credit hour for “athletics fees”.  ASU has about 11,000 students.  This fee generates several million dollars per year for the Red Wolves’ Athletics Department.   

Only Southern Miss ($28 million) and ULM ($20.9 million) trail Louisiana Tech in terms of their annual sports budget.

The ULM students agreed in April, 2025 to raise their annual athletics fees from $20 to $75 per year. 

This will add about $600,000 to the Warhawks’ annual athletics budget.

Wanted:  Sugar Daddies needed ASAP for the ULM Warhawks

Local giving to ULM’s athletics programs provide about $700,000 per year.  Their regional rivals at Louisiana Tech University raise about $6 million in annual giving to support the Bulldogs athletics programs.

ULM must double down on efforts to attract new sources of athletic philanthropists if it wants be competitive in the FBS group of schools.

Still want that job as the new ULM Athletics Director?

Apply soon if you enjoy increasing amounts of daily financial and political pressures. 

This may be one of the highest stress and lowest paying AD jobs in the nation.

Caveat emptor!

The post You STILL want to be a Mid-Major Athletics Director? (Conclusion) appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.